Plains, Riverton advance to Sangamon County semifinal

It took less than a quarter of play Tuesday night for Pleasant Plains and Riverton high schools to secure their spots in the final four of the Sangamon County Boys Basketball Tournament.

In fact, the four semifinalists — Plains, Riverton, Rochester and Williamsville — won their first-round games by an average of 20 points. Now it’s up to them to sort out who’ll battle for the championship at 7 p.m. Saturday at Lincoln Land Community College.

Third-seeded Pleasant Plains, the three-time defending champion, overcame the absence of two starters through the first half Tuesday night. The Cardinals rolled to a 27-4 lead after one quarter en route to a 73-45 quarterfinal win over No. 6 Pawnee.

Second-seeded Riverton also took control very early against No. 8 New Berlin, building a 28-5 lead through one period on its way to a 59-32 victory over the winless Pretzels.

It sets up a semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Thursday between the Cardinals (8-6) and Hawks (12-2). The winner advances to Saturday’s title game against the winner of tonight’s 7:30 semifinal between No. 1 Williamsville (11-1) and No. 5 Rochester (2-9).

Pleasant Plains 73, Pawnee 45

Plains coach Cliff Cameron was worried entering Tuesday’s game. Devon Sabo, Plains’ 6-foot-8 senior, would not start because he received a technical foul in last Friday’s 68-58 win at Pawnee. And freshman guard Cole Greer would not start because he was late for the team bus Tuesday.

Sophomore starter Will Gustafson missed school on Monday because he was ill. Cameron himself was under the weather Monday, when the team didn’t even practice. They did have a light practice early Tuesday morning.

The personnel situation, coupled with Pawnee playing Plains close in the Friday game, had Cameron concerned. Could upstart Pawnee hand Plains its first loss in a first-round county game since 1991?

“I think we gave (Pawnee) enough reason to have confidence coming into tonight,” said Cameron, referring to last Friday’s game. “That game was close all the way, so they probably come in thinking, ‘Hey, we can beat these guys.’

“We had to show them right away that they couldn’t.”

The Cardinals, flustering the Indians into eight first-quarter turnovers and 2-for-9 shooting from the field, bolted to leads of 9-0 and 22-2 en route to the 27-4 bulge starting the second period. It was 32-8 and 41-16 before Plains settled for a 41-18 command at halftime.

“I was really happy with our defense right at the beginning,” Cameron said. “We gave up some easy baskets later, but we came out a lot better than I anticipated. I was really happy with that.”

“We beat them last Friday in a pretty close game,” Gustafson said. “We didn’t want to overlook them. We wanted to make sure we put them away early. We got it done in the first quarter.

“That’s probably the least points we’ve given up in the first quarter. We definitely came out strong.”

Pawnee (6-6) hoped to make a statement in its second matchup with Plains in a five-day span. But second-year Indians coach Raph Hennemann said his team couldn’t match the Cardinals’ early intensity.

“They really got after it in the first half,” said Hennemann. “They got every loose ball, every long rebound.

“We made some mistakes over and over in the first quarter. I’m not sure what to take away from this game. I’m not sure if this was as much physical as it was mental.”

Garrett Galloway was Pawnee’s only double-figure scorer as he had 15 points.

Riverton 59, New Berlin 32

The first quarter was virtually a repeat of the first eight minutes of the Plains-Pawnee game.

With 6-5 senior Braxton LaDew scoring 10 first-period points and grabbing 15 first-half rebounds, the Hawks had leads of 19-2 and eventually 28-5 entering the first quarter.

With New Berlin coach Jon Barth periodically inserting five reserves at a time, the Pretzels were down 40-9 at halftime.

With reserves playing most of the second half for both teams, LaDew finished with 12 points and 16 rebounds while sophomore starter Ryan Roscetti and senior reserve Branden Rogers added 10 points apiece for Riverton.

Junior starter Jacob Hunt led the Pretzels with 10 points, including eight in the third period.

Riverton coach Kyle Weber, whose team lost to Plains 53-40 in last year’s county title game, said Thursday’s semifinal will be just as challenging — especially with Sabo expected to be back in the Plains lineup.

“With Plains, they have a lot of quickness and some good shooters and some size,” Weber said. “That can be a dangerous combination. We have to make sure we come out ready to defend and get out on shooters, help out on drives.

“We also have to do a good job of screening out, control the defensive glass and eliminate second opportunities for them. Offensively with us, the main thing is taking care of the basketball. If we value possessions and keep the turnovers down, it gives us a chance to score.

“Even tonight, early in the second quarter, we had some empty possessions. We have guys who can score. We just have to take care of the ball and give them a chance to do that.”